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It's complicated. 2D graphics aren't inherently harder or require more computation than 3D, but they require very different optimizations. I think it boils down

It's complicated. 2D graphics aren't inherently harder or require more computation than 3D, but they require very different optimizations. I think it boils down to the fact that 2D graphics is ultimately data structure heavy, whereas 3D graphics can often be represented as a huge array of triangles. So there's a lot of literature (some of which I linked, then those papers have a deep literature review), but no one obviously best solution. One thing I think I contributed is a relatively simple solution, especially for doing almost all the work on GPU rather than relying on CPU for things.

incompatible 7y ago
Is there any particular reason why recent / future GPUs would be worse at 2D graphics than older versions? I.e., what needs to change, when current methods for 2D graphics have worked for years? Also not knowing much about the field, GPUs seem to have a lot of unpleasantness in the form of incompatible and/or proprietary APIs, so implementing anything that's supposed to be cross platform (also to old and new GPUs, and future GPUs as they are released) may be hard work.
- raphlinus 7y ago
  What makes you say that 2D graphics has worked well? Scrolling often janks, UI designers constantly have to work around limitations in the imaging model and performance quirks (for a long time, clipping to a rounded rect would kill performance), and there were lots of shortcuts with things like gamma for blending. I'm hoping to build something way better, where the UI always updates smoothly, and the UI designer doesn't have to be conscious of the limitations in the renderer.
  - tenaciousDaniel 7y ago
    > I'm hoping to build something way better Are you talking about a specific project you're working on? I'm currently building a UI tool for designers, and I'm extremely interested to hear about any work in that area.
    - raphlinus 7y ago
      Yes. I'll have more to say soon, but I'm basically building what I think is next-gen UI infrastructure in Rust. That's a project with perhaps overly ambitious scope, so I'm starting with one specific app, namely a font editor. That will be a great showcase for beautifully antialiased vector paths and smooth-as-silk scrolling and interaction, I think.
- kllrnohj 7y ago
  > I.e., what needs to change, when current methods for 2D graphics have worked for years? Very nearly every 2D graphics system uses software rasterization for handling generic paths. Many 2D graphics renderers are even just mostly software, using limited GPU acceleration for just basic blitting & blending of textures. What changed is mobile happened, radically shifting the resolution vs. CPU performance balance, along with decent GPUs being suddenly a basic feature. Getting generic vector path performance up to par in this world to be a basic building block is now interesting.

incompatible 7y ago

Is there any particular reason why recent / future GPUs would be worse at 2D graphics than older versions? I.e., what needs to change, when current methods for 2D graphics have worked for years? Also not knowing much about the field, GPUs seem to have a lot of unpleasantness in the form of incompatible and/or proprietary APIs, so implementing anything that's supposed to be cross platform (also to old and new GPUs, and future GPUs as they are released) may be hard work.

raphlinus 7y ago
What makes you say that 2D graphics has worked well? Scrolling often janks, UI designers constantly have to work around limitations in the imaging model and performance quirks (for a long time, clipping to a rounded rect would kill performance), and there were lots of shortcuts with things like gamma for blending. I'm hoping to build something way better, where the UI always updates smoothly, and the UI designer doesn't have to be conscious of the limitations in the renderer.
- tenaciousDaniel 7y ago
  > I'm hoping to build something way better Are you talking about a specific project you're working on? I'm currently building a UI tool for designers, and I'm extremely interested to hear about any work in that area.
  - raphlinus 7y ago
    Yes. I'll have more to say soon, but I'm basically building what I think is next-gen UI infrastructure in Rust. That's a project with perhaps overly ambitious scope, so I'm starting with one specific app, namely a font editor. That will be a great showcase for beautifully antialiased vector paths and smooth-as-silk scrolling and interaction, I think.
kllrnohj 7y ago
> I.e., what needs to change, when current methods for 2D graphics have worked for years? Very nearly every 2D graphics system uses software rasterization for handling generic paths. Many 2D graphics renderers are even just mostly software, using limited GPU acceleration for just basic blitting & blending of textures. What changed is mobile happened, radically shifting the resolution vs. CPU performance balance, along with decent GPUs being suddenly a basic feature. Getting generic vector path performance up to par in this world to be a basic building block is now interesting.